


for him

by hyuckwei



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Attempt at Humor, Delinquents, Fluff, Idiots in Love, M/M, Mutual Pining, Recreational Drug Use, Swimming Pools, lots of cursing from tens side, tsundere ten, yangdery if u squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-09-23 04:54:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20334391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyuckwei/pseuds/hyuckwei
Summary: ten just wanted to light shit on fire and have a good time being a reckless asshole, not have heart eyes for an angel dubbed the captain of the swim team.





	1. one

**Author's Note:**

> this was originally hwiwon (sf9),, tho it flopped and i ended up deleting it. i liked this fic with johnten as a pairing way better and i made a lot of changes to it so it flows better. enjoy!

Ten’s never been much of a romantic. Being a delinquent wasn’t quite attractive to people unless it was a girl who wanted to defy her parent’s wishes of a perfect, hard working husband. They were typically rich girls Ten didn’t particularly like but still ended up dating because a hundred dollars was a hundred dollars. 

Though Ten believed his life of piano playing, going to private schools was rather boring and he wasn’t living up to his potential until he turned 13 and moved from Thailand to Illinois. He was just like those rich girls who were after him for the thrill of it, trying to get away from their golden planned out lives.

13 year old Ten was put in public school when he decided, _hey_ why not begin this clean slate off by becoming a total disturbance to his new neighbors? Piss off his own parents while he was at it? 

And so he became known as the community’s little nuisance and gained a title for himself. The only reason he even thinks about romance even once is because of his best friend, Kunhang, the complete opposite of Ten. Besides the fact that he was also a transfer student, but from China. He’s always nagged to Ten about dropping his resting bitch face and to live life a little. 

‘_Is lighting things on fire and graffitiing the back of our school in broad daylight not living enough?_’ He asked in rebuttal to his friend’s snide comments about his lifestyle. Kunhang could only stare at him with his mouth agape before snapping at the younger,

‘_I meant your love life idiot!’_

Ten was perfectly fine being alone and messing with people. He doesn’t even mind the bruises he has on his cheeks from fights anymore, it’s not like he wanted anyone to worry about them or tell him to stop fighting. _Not at all_. Even if the idea did sound a _little_ cute. But never mind that, he didn’t need love to fulfill anything. He’s already living his life, having fun doing things he wants to do with the excuse of being a reckless teenager. So fuck love, he thought. He could do anything he wanted without someone holding him back.

Well, he lied. 

One thing Ten really never wanted to do, and completely _dreaded _the thought of it, was attending Kunhang’s swim meets and competitions. It’s not like he wasn’t proud of his best friend being one of the best swimmers on the swim team. Ten suffered sitting atop the bleachers under the hot sun, bored to death as he sweat buckets squinting at the heads popping up from the waters. He _hated_ being sweaty while wearing his signature oversized black hoodies to the events. 

But that wasn’t the only thing he hated, not even _close_. Again, he lied about needing love at all. Why would he when a whole _Johnny Seo _existed. 

Besides being completely sweaty, occasionally getting splashed with water and having to witness Kunhang and his boyfriend’s PDA, Johnny was just the worst of it all.

Ten didn’t actually hate Johnny, _of course not_, he just had a stupidly gigantic crush on him. He was in denial of it all and hid those feelings under his leather jacket. Johnny was too perfect for him. Johnny was everything Ten was not. He was cheerful, cool-headed, had a bright, gummy smile, kind, and the captain of the school’s swim team, three-time-championship winners. Which Johnny led two of. So it made him completely unreachable.

No matter how much Ten denied he like-liked anyone to Kunhang, stating love was pointless and short-lasting, always saying he didn’t need anyone (_hypocritical of him, really_), he still practically had heart eyes every time he looked at Johnny.

He wasn’t lying when he said Johnny was kind, the angelic boy tried his best to befriend everyone no matter what. Even Wendy, their residential pothead slash drug dealer. He just never tried to befriend _Ten _of all people. It stung a little at first but Ten understood why, he was a delinquent that got into fights and got into trouble constantly. Of course Johnny wouldn’t want to be associated with him considering how well-liked he was. (It was a pretty bullshit excuse Ten could think of for Johnny but it didn’t blow his ego and heart as hard.)

Contrary to how often Ten attends Johnny’s swim meets, the first time Ten saw Johnny wasn’t when he was diving headfirst into the deep end of the pool. It was at their local 7 Eleven just a few blocks away from Ten’s house. 

He remembered when he first had his bisexual awakening at the convenience store late at night after Ten stormed out of his house after a heated argument with his mother about Ten’s attempts to sabotage himself. 

Johnny looked weary as he stared at the assortments of candies in the snack isle, his hands shoved in the pockets of his grey sweatpants. Even though he was wearing a red beanie, Ten could tell from where he stood in the refreshments isle later, there were strands of long brown hair sticking out. 

Ten was _floored_ when he first made eye contact with Johnny’s curious gaze. He had barged into the store, slightly nodding at the boy dozing off at the register who could only lazily nod back. There weren’t many people there but Johnny jumped at the sudden sound of the bell ringing harshly when Ten stomped in. Ten’s sharp eyes immediately fell onto Johnny. He felt his cheeks warm up in embarrassment and narrowed his eyes as he walked towards the fridge holding refreshments. 

He could still feel Johnny’s eyes burning into the back of his head for a slight second until he went back to deciding whether to get Chips Ahoy or Oreos. 12 year old Ten, who had only recently started causing massive trouble for everyone, felt insecure about his actions for the first time. It never stopped him. Subconsciously though, he probably continued doing all these things just to get Johnny’s attention like he’d done before. The only time Johnny ever really looked his way.

So Ten still admired Johnny despite his cold attitude. He had already known Johnny from word around school, how he already had a guaranteed spot in the freshman swim team, how every girl in the 8th grade fawned over him. He understood why as he shyly watched Johnny pay at the register. He was tall for a 13 year old at the time, had longish, straight brown hair that reached his nape but was currently tied back into a mini ponytail under his beanie.

He’d kept that style even until they entered high school. Johnny was pretty cute all that time until puberty hit him in the middle of freshman year of high school and he became hot as _fuck_. Back then, Ten was sure Johnny knew of Ten too, everyone always talked about what trouble the new transfer student caused that day. Kunhang excluded since he stuck to Ten’s side like glue since the first day he arrived.

The following day Ten found out he and Johnny shared History and PE together. Which also explained his bisexual awakening because his face always turned cherry red whenever he accidentally made eye contact with Johnny who was changing out of his gym shorts.

Oddly enough he had never seen Johnny as often in high school, sharing no classes together yet Ten always skipped so he wouldn’t know _anyways_. But it was enough for Ten to think the other was cute and ended up harboring a small crush on him for 3 years behind his best friend’s back. Curse Kunhang’s romantic rants. And curse his hypocritical self for having eyes for only one boy as if he was in love with him. 

“_Earth to Ten?_” Kunhang’s voice snapped Ten out of his long, deep thinking. He felt Kunhang’s index and middle finger press against the middle of his eyebrows and spread apart on his skin. His eyebrows were still furrowed and he hadn’t even noticed. Ten blinked, looking around realizing he was still in his chemistry class blanking out. Their teacher was no where in sight, indicating the day has already ended.

“It’s a little invasive of you to intrude on my thoughts like that.” Ten muttered, moving his head so Kunhang’s fingers slid off of him. Kunhang could only chuckle as he leaned forward, resting his elbows on Ten’s desk with raised eyebrows, his dark hair dangling in front of his eyes,

“Sorry I pulled you out of your deep thoughts again while you obviously weren’t paying attention the whole period. You’re gonna get wrinkles if you keep thinking that hard,” Kunhang hummed, “So.. You coming today?” 

“Of course I am. I always do.” Ten bluntly answered, even though he skipped out on everything anytime anyone invited him to do something, he’d never miss his best friend’s swim meets. Kunhang thinks it’s sweet the school’s bad boy has a soft spot for him but Ten says it’s only because he gives him his red bean buns during lunch. 

“Good! Make sure to bring me some strawberry milk though, today’s gonna be extra long and tiring,” Kunhang sighed, watching Ten grab his semi-empty backpack and hook it around his shoulder. 

“Oh yeah,” Ten said, standing up, his friend following behind, “Isn’t your swim tournament this Friday?” 

“You remembered! Johnny has been on everyone’s asses, _kindly of course_, all week. My arms have been _killing_ me,” Kunhang limply waved his arms around to dramatize his weariness, Ten could only snort before stopping in his tracks. Kunhang looked at him with a raised eyebrow, they had already left the classroom until Ten suddenly had a bright idea.

“I’ll be right back.” 

Kunhang furrowed his eyebrows, watching his friend go back into the classroom and following him, checking through the small window the door had. Kunhang could only facepalm as he watched Ten grab a sharpie from the teacher’s desk and approach the whiteboard. 

Anyone can already guess what Ten’s mature, pea brained self had drawn on the whiteboard. 

“You’re literally on the edge of becoming an adult.”

“Dick drawings are still funny.”

“If you could have the hots for anyone on the swim team who would it be? Excluding Yang though or I’ll beat your ass,” Kunhang questions, leaning back into the shotgun seat of Ten’s pot smelling car. He scrunched his nose up at the stench before shoving his cherry popsicle in his mouth. It was Thursday, just one day before Kunhang’s swim tournament.

And before Ten would go back to taking sneaky glances at Johnny without anyone suspecting a thing. He wasn’t at practice Tuesday, Kunhang had told him he was in the locker room making a roster for who was going to compete in the tournament. 

Ten narrowed his eyes at his friend, taking another hit from his pipe before nudging Kunhang to take a hit. Kunhang shook his head,

“I say no to drugs, sorry, dude. I shouldn’t even be allowing _you_ to even smoke!”

Ten rolled his eyes, 

“No one.”

“Huh?”

“I wouldn’t wanna fuck anyone from the swim team. All of you are too..” Ten paused, struggling to find a word to generalize the swim team. He decided on the word ‘soft.’ Kunhang seemed to take offense to it.

“Soft? _Soft?_” Kunhang bit down on his ice pop and the latter cringed at the sound of teeth chomping down on ice. Ten put out his pipe and placed it in the cupholder below, ready to hear Kunhang start bragging about how most of them had abs and won two championships while Ten was high out of his mind. Ten drowned out of the conversation soon after that until a certain name was brought up,

“But Johnny‘s like a giant baby honestly,” Kunhang stated, carelessly throwing his popsicle stick in the back of Ten’s car. The elder glared at him but Kunhang continued, “He’s buff as hell since he’s our captain. _But _he’s a little soft if you catch my drift.”

“You’re trash talking him because your arms still hurt.” Ten sneered, slightly hitting his friend’s arm until he sat up, “Anyways, we should get going now. Our sweet little dimpled fairy has to rest up for the tournament!”

Kunhang furrowed his eyebrows beside him. Kunhang doesn’t even _have_ dimples and Ten didn’t care about Kunhang enough to ask him to take care of himself, which meant... 

“You’re too high to even drive aren’t you?”

“Yup.”

Ten was fucked. Well, metaphorically.

He sat on the bleachers, first row, right in front of the pool, with Johnny sitting right in front of him on the sidelines. Ten tried so hard not to scream when his eyes traced the dangerous lines of Johnny’s back muscles. He just turned to talk to Jacob, one of his teammates, and his back still managed to flex without trying. What the hell. 

Even his goddamn mane he let fall down when he pulled off his hairband bounced like a fucking anime character’s would. Whilst Ten sat on the bench, hunched over, coal hair hanging in his face, grey tank top to show off his (somewhat) muscles, looking like he was about to beat the living shit out of anyone who dared to breathe in his direction. It was barely 9 am, how does anyone look as good as Johnny so early in the morning? 

Johnny was an angel and Ten was a stupid, scowling delinquent frustratingly sipping on one of the strawberry milk cartons he had brought for Kunhang Speaking of that lovesick fucker, Kunhang was the one who had chosen where Ten should sit, closest to the pool so he can properly see his best friend cheering him on during the butterfly relay of the tournament.

Curse Kunhang. He was currently animatedly talking to Yangyang who nodded back enthusiastically. They were probably giving each other disgustingly sweet, couple-y encouraging words before the tournament started. 

A siren blared, making everyone around Ten cry out in annoyance (even Ten covered his ears with a scowl). The announcer on the overhead stating the competition was starting in 5 minutes was _way_ too chipper for a dude being paid 50 bucks to do commentary on a bunch of teen boys swimming for 3 hours. But money is money. But not even Ten was desperate enough to do that. And he was _Ten_. 

He was already bored, head resting against his palm, watching as Johnny’s team all stood up to stretch. Ten’s eyes almost bulged out of his sockets when Johnny turned, caught the younger’s eyes and.. smiled up at Ten. Ten squinted in confusion at Johnny’s now turned back, looking around him to see if that smile was meant for someone else. 

It turned out, it was really meant for Ten. Ten could only sigh, his heart hammering in his chest as he glared at Johnny bending down to touch his toes. His ass looked pretty nice in those trunks. Ten smirk slowly creeped onto his face. This was going to be a _long_ 3 hours. 

They had won. It wasn’t much of a surprise to Ten since he’d been at most of the practices, seeing the team practicing hard when he wasn’t terrorizing the old lady living next door to his family. Ten really liked living up to his delinquent title, as far as scaring the old lady next door and teaching her chihuahua to piss in her garden of lilies. He snickered at the image of his neighbor screeching her head off when sweet, tiny Mr.Pickles had his leg sticking up in the air letting it rain down on the granny’s well tended lilies. 

Ten leaned against a wall near the boy’s locker room, his leg stretched out in front of him and the other against the wall as he waited for Kunhang to come out. He took a long drag from the cigarette he held between his index finger and thumb and blew little rings with his mouth. 

“Nice tricks. But you do know you’re not allowed to smoke in public grounds like these, right?” A somewhat condescending voice said out of nowhere, scaring the living daylights out of Ten. He quickly scrambled up from his position and was prepared to beat the shit out of whoever was trying to tell _him_ what to do.

“What the fuck I almost dropped a perfectly good cigarette you dip-“ Ten choked up on his words before he could finish when he had realized who he was talking to. Johnny stood in all his angelic glory in front of Ten with his arms crossed over his chest, grinning down at the shorter boy. Eyebrows raised and everything. Johnny looked cute as fuck with his oversized hoodie, skinny jeans and tied up hair.

“Thanks? But my statement still stands, hotshot.”

“Oh fuck I said that out loud..” Ten cursed quietly, smacking his face with the hand he was holding his cigarette in and immediately regretted it, “Fuck, fuck, fuck-“

_Amazing_. Ten managed to look like a complete idiot in front of his crush twice in only under two minutes. Goddamn it. 

“For a delinquent you’re kind of dorky,” Johnny laughed, his gums evident and oh Jesus Christ he was covering his mouth with his _sweater paws_. Ten wanted to die on the spot. How dare this guy make Ten, of all fucking people, feel this way? And why was he speaking to him anyways?

“S-Shut it pretty boy,” Ten stumbled on his words. He wanted the ground to swallow him whole, “I could still rock your shit if you kept messing with me. But you won today so I’m keeping my hands to myself.”

“Ooh. Tough guy.” Johnny cooed, he came closer to Ten and the younger just pressed his back closer against the wall. He had to look up at Johnny from under his bangs with a glare. What the hell was this guy so tall for?

Johnny leaned over and gently took the cigarette from Ten’s hand and dropped it on the ground, smashing the material with his foot, “Anyways. You’re Kunhang’s friend that always comes to our swim practices, right? Thanks for coming to cheer us on. The team appreciates the school’s bad boy caring about the school’s swim comps,” He paused, grinning and tapping Ten’s nose with his index finger as if he was messing with an aggressive puppy on the verge of biting his hand off, “I’ll see you around.”

Before Ten could even say anything, Johnny stalked off waving slightly at the younger boy who just stood there wondering what the hell just happened. Then Johnny turned around once more and called out to the raven haired boy, 

“Oh! And again, stop smoking in public areas! It’s not good for you or anyone else around you!”

Ten was at loss for words. He glanced between Johnny’s disappearing back and the ashes beneath his feet. He couldn’t even curse at the boy for smashing his cigarette on the ground. 

Ten didn’t even have to care. He could’ve just walked by Johnny and whoever was pulling him by the collar and slamming him against the wall during lunch break. He could have ignored it, not get into trouble for once in his life. Not for another boy. Ten didn’t have to drop and waste yet another perfectly good cigarette by stepping on it to stop whatever was happening just for Johnny. Yet as he tried to just walk past it, a tiny voice in the back of his head was screaming for him to go and help _stupid_ swim team captain Johnny Seo.

“Oi!” Ten called, tossing his backpack aside and walking up to the pair, glaring at the offender. Johnny was curious to who was trying to get this guy off of him but his eyes widened when he had noticed it was Ten interfering. The guy, however, was not afraid of Ten and promptly ignored him. His grip tightened on Johnny’s collar and Johnny was visibly choking up. Even if he was taller, the other was three times his body weight and size.

Ten sighed and snapped his fingers in front of his face as he stood in front of them now, his tilted his head, “Are you deaf? You interrupted my smoking session. Leave him alone and beat it.” 

“Who are you to tell me what to do?” He dropped Johnny’s collar and Johnny fell to the cement floor on his bottom with a loud thud. The bigger boy that held Johnny was bulky, tall, and well built for a high schooler and his face looked almost like a bulldog. _Jesus how many times has this guy gotten held back?_

Anyone with eyes could guess The Bulldog guy would win in a fight between he and Ten if they bet on it. Ten had the body of a 12 year old yet everybody _feared_ him. But it still wouldn’t stop him from a good fight. Bulldog guy pushed Ten’s chest with one hand as if to taunt him for being short. Ten bared his teeth in anger. 

“I’ve been patient with you, asshat. You asked for it.” Ten’s fist immediately connected with Bulldog guy’s frowning face, catching him off guard. He swiped his leg between his legs and tripped him over with ease, mounting on top of him and forcefully grabbing his hair. He pulled the perpetrator’s hair back and he hissed in pain, Ten’s face dangerously close to his. He spit in Ten’s face, grabbing his arms and reversing their roles, now Ten was under him and looking angry as ever. 

“You fucking bitch.”

“Fucking try me shithead!” Ten yelled before thrusting his elbow up and jabbing it into boy’s jaw. Soon enough punches and kicks were heavily being thrown around whilst the two delinquents spewed insults towards each other, attracting attention from other students. A full fight had broken out. Johnny could only stare at the pair throwing blows at each other before shaking his head, pushing his long hair back shakily and running off to get the principal.

Ten should have been grateful Johnny ran off to inform the teacher about a fight that broke out in the courtyard. He would’ve gotten his ass kicked for sure if it continued, his stamina was not up to his usual standards in the moment. 

They sat in the office with Ten having a grumpy expression across his face and Johnny keeping a neutral, composed one. The principal discussed Ten’s punishments of another week of suspension and trash duty until Johnny spoke up. If it wasn’t for Johnny’s honesty getting Ten out of trouble, stating that ‘Chris’ started the fight first and had tried to hurt Johnny in the beginning.

The principal was especially surprised to hear that Ten tried to help Johnny of all people. She asked Ten to leave the room for a second before turning to Johnny with a concerned look,

“Johnny, I know you’re strong enough to defend yourself. If Ten is threatening you into covering for him-“

He winced.

“Miss.. I’m not covering for Ten. He really intervened.” Johnny spoke calmly but behind his calm facade he was just as surprised at his own words coming out of his mouth. He’s heard of Ten before, of course, one of his teammates is best friends with him, he’d seen him around before as well. They were in History together in the 8th grade. He’d even talked to him from their last tournament to warn him about smoking on public grounds. 

And he had only seen him in class once on the first day of junior year with Ten’s head flat against the desk, sleeping. Until he suddenly woke up, looked around the room warily, even eyeing Johnny sleepily and immediately standing up from his desk and walking out of the room. The teacher just continued her lesson like nothing happened. Johnny could only wonder to himself why no one cared about Ten during that time. So he kept his distance.

He kind of understood why now. But he couldn’t put a finger on why no one wanted to help him. They gave up on him so easily.

“If it’s not too much to ask for, can you not suspend Ten for this? He was just trying to help,” Johnny asked, nervously scratching the back of his head, “The detentions may be good for him but suspension is unnecessary..”

The principal looked at Johnny, raising an eyebrow at his suggestions as if to ask, why the hell would you even suggest helping Ten out of this? But instead, she sighed and agreed,

“Alright, fine. I trust your judgment, Seo. He will only get two weeks of detention. I’ll send him a notice, now if you’ll excuse me I have to send in Chris now.”

Johnny just nodded, getting out of his chair and walking out the door until he heard Ten sneer from where he sat,

“Isn’t it a bit off that the swim team’s captain isn’t strong enough to fend for himself?” 

“That guy was _way_ too strong for me, you saw how big he was.” Johnny said quietly, slinging his bag over his shoulder, he looked down at Ten with his famous million dollar smile, “So, You’re only getting a week of detention because I told Principal Jung not to suspend you for your _brave_ actions.”

“I-I-“ Ten stammered, he _never_ stammered. What was this kid doing to him? Johnny still smiled, noticing Ten tripping over his words but decided not to tease him for it this time. He grabbed Ten by the wrist and pulled him to the side, grin still spread across his face, 

“Let’s walk out together, yeah?”

“_Fuck_..” Ten muttered under his breath as Johnny dragged him towards the entrance. They were doing fine with just Ten cursing to himself while Johnny was trying so hard to be blissfully ignorant towards Ten’s vulgar language and the extra pairs of footsteps behind them. 

“So I heard you messed with my boy.” The extra pairs of footsteps owner announced behind Ten and Johnny as they walked out of the front doors together. Ten just raised an eyebrow at the guy, Johnny gently held Ten’s elbow to hold him back, 

“Yeah so? He was messing with someone he wasn’t supposed to.” 

“What, your little boyfriend?” The guy was aggravating Ten now and he had no time to deal with a buffoon and the tall puppy behind him at the same time. Ten just let out a deep sigh, rolling his head around his shoulders before clutching the strap of his backpack,

“You’ve got three seconds.” 

“What? I’m not scared of a—“

“One.” Ten took a step forward, taunting the boy in front of him, his shit-eating grin widening with each step he took, “Two.”

“Hey, Ten..” Johnny said weakly from behind him, Ten shrugged off his hand with a frown. The boy seemed to be afraid of Ten’s threat yet stood his ground, still wanting to see what he was made of. 

“Three.” He was taunting him now. 

“Shit! What _the_-“ 

Ten had swung his backpack across the boy’s face harshly, quickly grabbing Johnny’s hand to drag him away from the confused but dazed dude behind them. Johnny seemed just as confused but decided not to question when Ten had already answered him halfway across the campus. 

“Anything can be a weapon if you aren’t a little bitch, Johnny.”

Kunhang noticed something was off about Ten lately since his swim tournament only a week ago. He only tagged 5 buildings this week instead of 10 and hit his bong once all week. Usually Ten would be high out of his mind coming to Psychology class whenever he even showed up but this time he was just.. Sitting there!

Even their teachers were amused with Ten’s attendance and he didn’t seem to be showing any disruptive behavior throughout the whole day. He he sucked on a lollipop in each class until he had licked to the core in his final class. He didn’t even skip a single period.

“Um. Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?” Kunhang asked, poking Ten with a ruler during Chemistry when they were paired up together for a lab. Ten just shrugged, scribbling down on his paper the formulas and making sure he copied them down correctly.

Kunhang could only watch in horror. 

The only reason Ten had been acting strange was because of well.. Johnny. He’s all that’s been on Johnny’s mind. More than usual at least, he usually only thought about him whenever he would pass by or he’d see him at swim practice. He’d kept thinking about Johnny’s words to him last Friday and the incident just a few days prior. 

Was he flirting with Ten the day of the tournament? He wouldn’t know because he’d never been in a relationship nor had he bothered to pay attention to whatever flirting came his way. He was oblivious to what flirting even _was_. So he might’ve just been plain wrong.

Ten kept thinking about how fucking tall Johnny was. He was never _that_ up close to the elder so when he had realized Johnny was a whole head taller than him it made him regret having a dying crush on him. It made him feel _soft_.

He hated being shorter than people. Especially if it was someone he liked. He decided he didn’t like Johnny anymore. Yet his mind still trailed off to him so he shook his head and continued copying the board. 

It was odd, really, how Johnny’s been all over Ten’s scrambled mind and Ten had decided he didn’t like him anymore because of how tall he was. Then all of a sudden Johnny shows up when Ten is hunched over on the bleachers during Kunhang’s regular swim practices, wearing his leather jacket in the blistering heat as he furiously texted his dealer, ‘_what do u fukin mean ur gonna charge me ten bux extra im gonna fuk u up, kevin. jus wait till i get 2 wendy and she has herself a new regular_’. 

“Busy?” Johnny asked, plopping himself next to Ten. Ten squeaked uncharacteristically when he had realized Johnny sat next to him. He smelled of chlorine and lemons, an odd smell but Ten kinda digged it. Johnny’s long hair was wet, covering some of his face until he swept it back unbeknownst to him that Ten was malfunctioning. Ten could see some crystal beads of pool water dripping onto his aqua colored towel and down his bare back. He had barely gotten out of the pool. 

“What the—“ Ten’s cheeks began to heat up. _What the fuck_. From Kunhang’s spot, wading in the water, he spotted his best friend and the titled Angelic Swim Captain sitting next to each other, a sight he never thought he would see in a million years. Something else he thought he would never live to see the day of— wait, was Ten.. _blushing_? Kunhang gasped so hard Yangyang thought he was going to inhale the pool water. Kunhang had composed himself before freaking out on the inside.. Ten _never_ blushed. 

“I-I’m..” Ten cleared his throat, glaring at Johnny who still smiled slightly, “I’m busy, yes. Texting my drug dealer why the hell he’s charging me extra and how I’m gonna fight him.”

“Ah, what did I say about smoking from last time?” 

“Huh?” Ten dumbly stared at Johnny who could only furrow his eyebrows, slightly pouting. Oh fuck. He was _pouting_. Did he do something wrong?

“You don’t remember what I told you at the swim tournament? Smokings bad for you, _bad boy_. I should’ve reminded you the last time we spoke and you called me a little bitch.” Johnny tutted, sitting up straighter than before. Ten quickly shook his head, ignoring how the way the younger said ‘bad boy’ made him feel. 

“No, no- Fuck. I’m sorry about that- Yes I do remember what you said. But this is a different kind of smoking. Like. You know,” Ten made a crude motion with his hands pretending he was rolling up a blunt, “420 and all that shit. Not cigarettes.”

“Cannabis?” Johnny chuckled, his eyebrows raised. He seemed amused by Ten’s explanation from what the elder boy could tell. _Okay, good, he didn’t think Ten was a complete idiot_. 

“Oh wow, fuck. You said the scientific word for weed. That’s cool.” Ten said dumbly. Johnny had to hold himself back from bursting out laughing at Ten’s dazed state. He found it sort of cute. 

“Um, I don’t think it’s the scientific term for weed. Just the formal word for the plant.” Johnny laughed and Ten could hear bells.

Which was the actual bell, not Johnny’s melodic laughter. Johnny smiled warmly at Ten before standing up, slightly drying his hair with his towel.

Ten could feel droplets flicking onto him but he didn’t mind this time, “I just came over to ask why you’re wearing a leather jacket, a black one at that, in 85 degree weather. And if you’re taking my advice on taking care of your health.”

“Hey man, it’s not like we’re friends or anything for you to be worrying about me. Buzz off.” Ten said, showing his resting scowl towards Johnny. 

“Well, you did help me out from getting beat up. So, this might’ve been my way to try and thank you. Maybe even befriend you.” Johnny shyly smiled, a visible glint in his eye before turning and walking off the bleachers, careful not to slip over any wet spots. Ten could only stare at the long haired angel walking off, starting a conversation with another teammate as they walked into the boy’s locker room to change out of their swim trunks. Unfortunately, his thoughts were yet again interrupted by his best friend’s loud outburst. He grabbed Ten by the shoulders, shaking him back and forth.

“Why didn’t you tell me you have a fucking crush on Joh-“ Before Kunhang could even slip out Johnny’s name with his leftover teammates cleaning up equipment listening closely, Ten quickly cupped his hand over his friend’s mouth.

“Shut the fuck up!” Ten hissed, shaking his friend back and forth, “The chlorine must be getting to your head if you think I like Johnny of all people!”

The other students were now staring at the two friends glaring at each other, one with his hand over the other’s mouth and the other looking like he was about to chomp off his hand.

“The fuck are you guys looking at?” Ten snapped down at the students, who quickly returned to picking up equipment. He looked back at Kunhang who glared at him accusingly. 

“You fufin fufed!” 

“What?”

Kunhang slapped Ten’s hand away from his mouth, glaring at him. Ten may have been too much sometimes but not telling his own best friend about his crush is unforgivable. He’d have to make Ten spit it out himself.

“You. Fucking. Blushed.” Kunhang said, now grabbing his friend by the shoulders and shaking him again, “And you were actually at school all week? What does Johnny have that I don’t to influence you to be a responsible person?”

“Okay, _okay_. Yeah, whatever, fuck off. I like him, okay? B-But not in _that_ way, dumbass,” Ten exclaimed, pushing Kunhang’s shoulder when he noticed his friend’s smug grin. Kunhang just clicked his tongue and wrapped his arm around the boy’s shoulder. He pinched Ten’s cheek and cooed, much to Ten’s displeasure. 

“It’s okay to deny it Tenny, you’re just a bit too stubborn to admit it. I guess my words of romance have gotten to you!”

“You’re cheesy as hell and the thought of the L word makes me wanna barf.”

“Yeah, you definitely like him.” Kunhang leered, poking Ten’s chest where his heart was located. Ten promptly smacked his friend’s hand away.

“I will push your dumbass into the pool.”

“How rude, anyways it’s very cute you’re finally getting more friends besides me. I mean, I know I’m perfect but—“

“I regret ever befriending you in the eighth grade.” Ten groaned, standing up from his seat and jumping off the bleachers as Kunhang carefully followed behind him with loud protests. 

Ten had declared a little crush wouldn’t change the fact that he could still scare the living shit out of people. Apparently, he was only half right. Now everyone in the hallways looked at him, sporting a few scratches on his face as he stomped down the halls. They weren’t staring because he was roughed up or anything, everyone was used to it already. But because one of the swim team members that had witnessed Kunhang’s accusatory screaming after practice and had gone around spreading that Ten had a crush on someone. What was this, _third grade_? 

“I wonder who’s the unlucky person that has Ten of all people liking him.” Someone whispered.

“Right? Ten would probably beat the crap out of them if they even breathed the wrong way—“

“I’ll beat the shit out of both of you and your moms if you don’t keep my name out of your filthy mouths,” Ten sneered, towering over the two gossiping girls whose eyes widened in fear. They scurried off quickly. 

Ten pursed his lips in thought, shaking his head as he kept brushing through the whispers surrounding him. They don’t know anything. 

“This is straight out of a bad chick flick.. The bad boy falling for someone way out of his league? Do you think he likes student council president Kun?”

“Pft. That’s even cheesier! I was thinking maybe his friend that always sticks around him.. The guy with backstrokes for days! Kunhang was it? They’d make a cute couple.”

Ten had soon scurried to the bathroom to wash the disgusting taste he has gotten in his mouth thinking of Kunhang as his boyfriend or even love interest. He regretted ever telling Kunhang he had a crush on Johnny or even bothering to talk to Johnny in front of his nosy friend. Now he was everyone’s target of gossip for the week, students he had no idea existed trying to find out who the school’s troublemaker had a crush on.

He just hoped they didn’t find out about his little rough up with the other student to help Johnny. He doubted the other delinquents cared enough about those kinds of things to tell anyone else. Unless they wanted something from Ten but no one was stupid enough to try it.

Still, Ten had to keep low about his interactions with Johnny. He just had to keep away from the elder for awhile so people wouldn’t drag him into the mess called _Ten’s Life_. 

Johnny never approached Ten in school anyway. He’d only ever talked to him twice this whole time. And both times were after school so it was safe to assume Johnny would only talk to Ten if no one was around. Even when he mentioned he wanted to befriend Ten. Ten wasn’t sure if Johnny meant it.

That is, until said captain approached Ten in his history class with an small smile. He sat in front of Ten, his smile never wavering. 

“Hey!” 

“Oh, wow, you were _serious_.” Ten said, his eyes wide, “And since when were you in my history class?”

“Have you really not noticed me here for like the past year?” Johnny looked a little hurt but Ten managed to save face. 

“I mean yeah, I kinda skipped class for most of the year and slept through most of it, so.”

“Anyways,” Johnny said, cooly brushing off Ten’s shitty excuse, “Yes, I was serious about wanting to befriend you. And now I want you to be my partner for this assignment, is that okay?”

“Are you pranking me right now? Where are the cameras?” Ten wrinkled his nose, looking around the room for said cameras. Johnny could only chuckle, giving Ten’s shoulder a friendly pat.

“Of course I’m being serious. Unless you’re too cool for me I totally understand, you can work solo. Do you understand this first question, then?”

‘Which Fascist leader was called "Il Duce" by his followers?’

Ten looked down at the question with a tight smile then glancing up at Johnny who smiled down at him expectantly, 

“You know what, fine. Just help me with this stupid worksheet.”

“My pleasure, Tenny.”

“Don’t call me that or I’ll knock your teeth out.”


	2. two

3 months went by in a breeze. Johnny and Ten had become somewhat closer than before. Kunhang snidely commented on how they were practically attached to the hip now and whined about being replaced. Ten reassured him that he would always be his only best friend that he would peer pressure into smoking and drinking. 

Kunhang seemed satisfied with that answer and left his slight jealousy behind, instead replacing it with knowing smirks towards his best friend every time he had brought Johnny into the conversation.

“Going to the library to help Johnny study for a test? Ten, sitting in a library? How shocking.” Kunhang’s pretty smile had become more annoying rather than cute in Ten’s book these days. Kunhang endlessly teased him and his crush on Johnny, making sure to turn it up a notch when the elder was around.

Johnny never failed to surprise Ten with his kindness, vice versa. Johnny had invited the delinquent out for lunch, just to thank him for helping him study along with agreeing to attend their final tournament for the year. Though he was a bit apprehensive at first, thinking Ten would decline and think Johnny was stupid for suggesting such an idea.

Ten had texted him back a ‘_Sure_’ straight away, much to Johnny’s wide eyes as he shoved his phone to his friend‘s face. Whom just silently smiled and pat his friend on the back. Mark had silently watched the elder oh so obviously pine after the resident bad boy the whole time, waiting for Johnny to finally approach him on the topic as he was Johnny’s closest friend. 

After all, Mark was the one who suggested Johnny to invite Ten out for lunch on the same day to repay him for being such a good friend. ‘_Friend_’ Mark snorted to himself when he had watched the long-haired boy text his love interest with a blush creeping onto his cheeks. Mark, although silently, noticed _everything_. Did it not hurt Johnny to smile so hard every time he and Ten interacted?

“Won’t it be like.. a date?” Johnny had murmured, smiling to himself as he stared at the sole ‘_Sure_’ Ten had bluntly replied with. Mark rolled his eyes, nudging the younger with his shoulder. His friend could be so oblivious sometimes. 

“Exactly Johnny. It’ll be a little date to help calm your nerves before tomorrow’s tournament.” Instead of being in the swim team with his friend, Mark was in choir, which Johnny was also in. He wasn’t very.. _good_ at it but he still went ahead and joined for Johnny. Mark still attended most of Johnny’s important events when he had time after choir. 

“I hope he doesn’t oppose to it..” Johnny sighed, too insecure about his crush for his own good. So Mark just side-hugged his friend, shaking him,

“It’ll be fine Johnny.”

While all that was happening, Ten had other plans a few hours just before he was off to meet up with the gorgeous angel roaming the Earth named Johnny. They were unexpected plans, but he didn’t let it ruin his happiness one bit.

Not even when he was suddenly grabbed by the jacket and pushed onto the ground. The familiar face of Chris, who had attacked Johnny from before, along with a few new faces towering over him. Ten grit his teeth when he noticed their haughty smirks above him. 

“You’re really going to pull this while I’m about to go tango with an angel?” Ten huffed, glaring up at the now confused trio. _Seriously where did Ten gain his vocabulary from? _He slowly stood up from the pavement of the sidewalk. Ten cracked his knuckles, curling them up into fists before slipping into his fighting stance.

He was _so_ not gonna let this ruin his mood.

“Where’d you get those bruises from!?” Johnny exclaimed, putting down his can of Pepsi before cupping Ten’s face between his hands. Ten hissed in pain, wincing when Johnny pulled away apologizing profusely. He rubbed his cheeks in annoyance, not even the quiet atmosphere of the quaint restaurant the pair sat in could help Ten’s bubbling anger die down. 

“That guy that was messing with you from before.. He snuck up on me with two other dudes,” The younger boy concluded, sticking a toothpick between his tooth _very_ attractively. Johnny took the toothpick from Ten’s hand and put it down on the checkered table with a grimace. The latter blushed from the contact but became even redder when Johnny fully clasped his hand around his.

“So you didn’t even tend to your bruises before coming here?”

“Well, no, of course not.. I didn’t want it to seem like I bailed ‘cuz that’s uncool to do y’know?” Ten muttered, hoping he didn’t seem to obvious with how much he looked forward to this.. meet up? 

“But your health is more important,” Johnny whined as he grabbed a few scrunched up bills from his pocket, tossing them onto the table before standing up, “Come on, let’s go to the convenience store and grab a few things to patch you up. We can eat later, okay?” 

Te could only protest as Johnny grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the diner, complaining about how he could have paid and they could’ve just ate before fixing him up. Johnny just narrowed his eyes at him, making the younger shut up immediately.

It was a completely new feeling seeing someone else besides Kunhang care for him this much. He could tell Johnny genuinely cared but it was practically in his angelic nature to care for someone like this. It made Ten feel buttery inside.

Here they were stuck in another dilemma, they were in the same 7 Eleven when they had first saw each other in the 8th grade, but they were arguing over who was going to pay for the things Ten needed to be patched up.

“Let. Me. Pay.” The long haired boy said between gritted teeth, holding his money out to the cashier. Ten shook his head furiously, his hand also stuck out with a wad of cash. 

“No! Let _me_ pay, Johnny! It’s the least I could do for ruining our lunch.”

“You did not ruin our lunch date! I wanted to help you!”

“Can you two kids hurry it up?” Someone impatiently called from behind them in line. The two were obviously causing a scene in the front of the line, stubbornly arguing who should pay for the materials. They had taken so long to decide that they’ve gathered up a long line behind them. It was enough for the cashier to keep listening to the bantering of the two so she had snatched the money from Johnny’s hand. 

“Now _scram._” 

The two quickly grabbed their bags and escaped the store. The younger nudged Johnny, who could only smile in satisfaction. He was satisfied he had won their little argument.

They decided to head off to Ten’s house, the thought of Johnny’s words about their lunch being a ‘date’ engraved into the back of Ten’s mind.

“I’ll pay you back.” Ten declared, his arms crossed when they had made it to his house. His mother wasn’t home so they had the house to themselves. Johnny was determined to patch Ten up. The boy shook his head, his wavy hair bouncing as he did, watching Ten sit down on the couch as he rolled up his jeans and t-shirt.

“I don’t want you to,” He said softly, only the rustling of the bag being heard throughout the room. He pulled out a roll of bandaid, alcohol, cotton balls and a few excess things just to help the younger. He sat opposite to him in a chair, holding the materials in his lap. 

Johnny had started off by cleaning the cuts on Ten’s legs, probably from constantly being thrown onto the pavement and skidding across it. Bloody swabs of cotton were thrown into the trash bag, so were some of the excess bandaid. There was a comfortable silence between them, Ten watching the elder carefully dab alcohol onto Ten’s bruises or place bandages over them. Johnny would only speak when he asked Ten to move a little or apologize for hurting him through his concentration.

“About.. Earlier..” Ten said, his words cleanly slicing through the thick yet comfortable silence, “That was supposed to be a date?”

Johnny immediately froze up, his cheeks already heating up uncharacteristically as his index finger and thumb tightened around the cotton. He could barely look at the younger boy. Ten felt himself heat up as well, taking the boy’s silent blush as an answer, “Oh.”

“Um.. Yeah? You know Mark, right? He suggested it.. Since I really wanted to find a way to repay you for being so kind to me. And for the fact that you always attend our swim events.” Johnny muttered, going to tend to Ten’s arms now. He brought his long, delicate fingers along Ten’s neck to feel for any bumps, biting his lip as he refrained to look up at the boy’s eyes. Ten, however, was smiling. 

“Well.. Thank you. You’re pretty cool, you know, for a nerd.” Ten snickered when Johnny lightly smacked the elder’s back playfully,

“Shut up, mister Supernova. Take off your shirt, I have to check for bruises on your torso.” Johnny demanded, pulling on the hem of Ten’s shirt. Ten just rolled his eyes, smirking as he teasingly nudged the elder,

“You want to see my abs, dude?”

“Oh shut up.” Johnny laughed, watching as Ten struggled to take off his own shirt. The boy clearly looked like he was in pain as he tried to shimmy off the piece of clothing, obviously trying not to accidentally peel off some of the bandages on his arms. Johnny reached out and held onto the boy’s arms, “Here, let me do it.”

He sat closer, his knees touching the latter’s own as he grabbed the sides of Ten’s shirt and pulled it over his head, being careful not to hurt him. The raven haired boy sighed, the sudden friction hitting his bare skin not being very pleasant. Especially when his crush was sitting in front of him, watching his every move as he uncomfortably rolled his shoulder blades. 

Johnny didn’t say anything. He just went back to work like he was before, trying not to give any sign of judgment as his eyes raked down the younger’s torso. Ten was fit, he wasn’t going to lie. But above the fit body was a bunch of discolored bruises and scars, along with a few fresh ones from earlier. He gently touched a bruise under Ten’s pectoral, hearing the boy wince at the touch.

He decided to keep his mouth shut, scooting closer with ease. He continued to try not to harm the younger as he placed a small Hello Kitty bandaid on the same spot he had touched earlier. He held back a chuckle.

“Hello Kitty? Seriously? Not even like, Ninja Turtles or anything?” Ten giggled, looking down at the shades of pink now on his stomach. Johnny then added, 

“It’s fitting. I see you more of a Hello Kitty kind of guy.” He giggled back. It became quiet once he had finished. He pat Ten’s stomach playfully, handing him his discarded t-shirt, “There. I hope you don’t get into anymore trouble for me or anyone else, okay?”

Johnny looked up into Ten’s dark eyes, smiling reassuringly, as if to say he was done and it was all good. The air suddenly felt heavier once he did. Immediately they both felt compelled, as cheesy as it was, to gaze into each other’s eyes. Ten’s eyes were hardened, rough and filled with a spark waiting to go off. Johnny’s were sparkling, bright, filled with nurture and care. Ten would gladly rob all the stars in the night sky just for the elder to continue looking as if Ten was everything he ever wanted. 

_You definitely like him. _

The world stilled for a moment, as if they were the only two people on Earth as they watched each other. Johnny’s warm smile grew wider when they had started leaning in closer. 

Ten snapped out of his fantasy world and immediately pulled away. The elder’s smile had fell and he awkwardly looked down at his hands instead of Ten. Ten followed suit in the awkwardness, pulling on his shirt and clearing his throat. Though internally cursing at himself for panicking. 

“I guess I’ll stop getting into trouble just for you. Let’s get lunch and go back to that restaurant from earlier, yeah? I liked it there.”

Johnny looked back up at him, his crestfallen expression turned into immediate happiness. Ten agreed to not get into any more trouble, for _Johnny_. Johnny of all people. The thought made the boy’s lips twitch into another fond smile as he stood up,

“Yeah. Let’s go then!”

Ten couldn’t sleep that night. He kept thinking about the almost-kiss with Johnny earlier and feeling resentful for not going through with it. He looked almost upset at the fact that they didn’t end up kissing and Ten couldn’t stop thinking about it. 

So here he was staring up at his ceiling, restraining himself from sneaking out to terrorize the neighborhood tonight since he had to go to Johnny and Kunhang’s tournament the following day and be up early for school. He needed energy to cheer his friends on. He felt himself finally falling asleep until his phone buzzed from the bedside table. 

From ‘**johnny ♡**’. He was whipped. Truly. 

**johnny ♡ **

‘Hey !! :) you wanna hang out?’

**cute dumbass **(ten had no idea about the contact name johnny had for him.)

‘its 1 am, we saw each other literally a few hours ago and u have a tournmnt 2 go to in a few hrs. icb u wanna see my face again that bad’

‘lemme get my jacket on hold on and txt me where to meet u sudden badass :p’

**johnny ♡**

‘Yay! let’s meet up near the school!’

“I can’t believe we’re sneaking into the school like this.” Ten muttered, watching as Johnny threw his backpack over the gates, laughing quietly. Ten was whipped enough to give up sleep just to accompany Johnny for a late night swim at the school to let go of the stress for awhile. It was as if Johnny forgot all about what happened earlier. Unless, he was purposely trying to avoid talking about it.

“Oh please, you’ve probably snuck into the Mcdonald’s at the outlets after hours to have a midnight snack, aka a fucking M&M Mcflurry.” Johnny sneered, perfectly spot on with what Ten had actually done once but Ten wouldn’t actually admit to that, because he had some pride and that Mcflurry was really good. 

“Help me up, yeah?” Johnny said as he placed one of his feet atop the gate, his hands gripping the top of the door. Ten could see a sliver of Johnny’s toned stomach from under his t-shirt and he felt himself blush then slightly look away. He held the side of Johnny’s hips as the elder boy hoisted himself on top of the door. He glanced down at Ten with a grin,

“Be careful idiot.” Ten whisper-yelled but Johnny just winked down at him before sliding both his legs off the side of the door and landing on his feet with a grunt. Ten slowly clapped in awe, “Pretty impressive for a dolphin.”

“Holy shit did you really just say that?” Johnny chuckled again and this time Ten could hear angels singing, “Do you want me to open the door or does your badass self want to climb over it too?”

“Nah I’ll just ruin the fun and make you open the door. I’m still healing from earlier.”

“Boo.” Johnny whined, unlocking the door and letting Ten come in. Ten picked up Johnny’s backpack and set their things down on the bleachers. He plopped down on the bench, chin in his palm as he watched Johnny pull off his clothes.

The taller caught him looking and snorted. Ten just hummed, glancing away with a tinge of embarrassment. He heard the sound of splashing and he looked back at the pool with it’s night lights on. Surely enough, Johnny emerged looking as good as ever, his hands pushing back the wet bangs covering his godly face. 

“You aren’t gonna come in hotshot?” Johnny called as he swam up to the edge of the pool, arms crossed and resting against the cold pavement. Ten raised an eyebrow at the elder and Johnny mocked him, raising his eyebrow back at him.

“I don’t have the right clothes to wear and my your hard work will get wet.”

“Does that matter now?” Johnny sang, throwing himself back into the water. He hummed as he swam across the crystalline pool. His movements were smooth, Ten believed Johnny would be a pretty fast mermaid if they existed. Or a dolphin, like he had called him earlier. Ten had his eyes closed, listening to the sounds of Johnny’s humming and the splashes the boy made as he swam.

Suddenly, the humming and splashing stopped. Ten could eerily feel something was wrong as he his eyes shot open. His eyes zipped back and forth around the area, Johnny was no where in sight. That is, until Ten started hearing gasping noises and the sounds of panicked splashing from the deep end. _Johnny._

Ten cursed to himself, throwing off his shoes as he started running towards the pool, almost tripping on the way as he took off his socks. No way in hell would he walk out of the pool in wet socks. He pulled off his jacket and dived headfirst into the pool, hastily swimming towards a struggling Johnny. 

He grabbed the boy’s arm and pulled him closer to float alongside him. Johnny was shaking in his arms, his face against Ten’s neck and arms around him. He would be freaking out if he didn’t feel Johnny smile against him. Ten frowned, sensing that something was off.

Johnny pulled away from Ten’s neck, grinning down at him, 

“Gotcha.”

“Oh fuck you!” Ten shouted, pulling away from Johnny who was shaking in laughter now. Ten was seriously mad. He really thought Johnny was drowning, even got all soaking wet just to go in and save him only to find out he was being tricked. 

“I can’t believe you even fell for that! I’m the captain of the school’s swim team. You think they’d let me be captain if I wasn’t able to float in the deep end?” Johnny’s laughing died down, he wasn’t mean enough to keep laughing in Ten’s face.

Ten’s face hardened even more, realizing his mistake. He continued to glare into the water in front of him, his arms crossed in annoyance. He looked like an angry chipmunk. 

Johnny just peered at the boy in front of him, swam closer to him and placed a hand on Ten’s shoulder. He smiled down at the younger who just turned his head in retaliation. Johnny couldn’t help but snort. 

“Here, I know what’ll make you feel better.”

Johnny’s gentle fingertips touched the bottom of Ten’s chin and all of a sudden the boy felt warmer at the touch in the cool waters. He tilted Ten’s chin to make the scowling boy to look up at him. Of course, Ten’s scowl softened when he had realized the way Johnny was staring at him. His lips were parted and his gaze was soft. 

Oh.

_Oh. _

Was this about to happen?

Johnny leaned in, bringing the younger’s face closer to his as he tilted his head to the side and captured Ten’s chapped lips between his soft ones.

It felt electrifying in the moment. Before Ten could even think of kissing back, the kiss was short by Johnny. The boy was in the process of unwrapping his arms from Ten, shyly smiling down at the younger.

“Ah.. Was that okay—“

His words were cut off by Ten grabbing him by the neck and pulling him down for another kiss. This time it was deeper, Ten was a bit inexperienced so there was a lot of teeth clashing in the process. Johnny swore he could taste some blood on his bottom lip from Ten, not sure whether or not if it was new or old. It was rather sweet besides the rusty taste of Ten on his tongue. 

They soon both pulled away, breathless as they rested their wet foreheads against each other.

“You’re a really good kisser,” Ten huffed, “But it’s still not okay you fucked me over like that.”

“You’re kind of bad at kissing but I’ll help you improve and take you out on a date next Friday to make up for avoiding our first kiss earlier today.” Johnny said, still breathing heavily from their long kiss. Ten just shrugged and shoved Johnny’s head down in the pool, listening to the elder’s muffled yelling from beneath him. He could see bubbles appearing on the surface of the pool. He let go quickly to swim away from a now angry Johnny.

“You..” Johnny was clearly much faster than Ten, chasing after him as Ten reached the ledge near the 3ft mark, about to climb out, Johnny grabbed him by the waist with both arms. He turned the elder over and pressed him against the ledge, towering over Ten with a smirk,

“I got you for the second time! My prize will be that date and those kissing classes please.” 

“Fuck you,” Ten spat, his cheeks heating up. He was sort of offended Johnny said he was a bad kisser so he had the classy idea of catching Johnny off guard and shove him down in the water. Yet the elder caught up to him and now they were in an uncomfortable (to Ten, at least) position. 

“Is that a yes?” 

“Of course it is, fucker.” Ten said, glaring up at Johnny’s shit-eating grin. Johnny seemed to want to go in for a third kiss until—

“Who’s there?” A man’s voice boomed, a light flashing back and forth between the pool and the bleachers where the two reckless teen’s bags where. The security guard was, conveniently, standing near the other exit so he couldn’t properly see Johnny and Ten. They quickly pulled away from each other, Ten muttering strings of curses as they both climbed out of the pool. They dashed towards their bags before the light could spot them.

Needless to say, the pair were giggling like little school girls looking like wet dogs as they ran out of the school holding each other’s hands. 


	3. 3

If someone were to say Ten was going to fall in love with the school’s swim team captain a year ago, Ten would’ve been high off his mind and double over laughing. Then proceed to call whomever made up that stupid prediction a ‘_fucking weirdo_’ and flip them off.

Well, now these days he has to walk around with a blush on his face, holding said swim team captain’s hand in the hallways.

Of course, people were shocked at such a comedic sight. Ten, tiny, with a red faced scowl wearing his typical black leather jacket and ripped jeans, and his slicked back raven hair. Johnny, tall, soft, angelic smile on his face wearing an oversized black hoodie (Tens) and loose blue jeans, and long, wavy brown hair in a bun.

The complete opposites were holding hands. One boy radiated _‘I’m literally Satan in disguise, I’m going to kill you’_ energy and the other radiated ‘_I’m an angel, do you need a hand?_’ energy.

Of course, some girls went ballistic with either the fact that Johnny was taken or Ten was taken by _Johnny_. 

“You guys are disgustingly cute,” Kunhang said, already waiting by Ten’s locker with a small grin on his face. Johnny had already parted ways with the elder, saying he had to go meet with the coach but not before kissing Ten square on the forehead in front of everyone. Ten almost whined in annoyance, before puffing his cheeks out and stomping towards his beat friend.

Kunhang pat Ten’s head, “The beast is finally being tamed. You haven’t even touched your pipe in three months.” 

“Oh fuck off.” Ten sneered, shoving Kunhang’s hand off his head. He opened up his locker and grabbed his history notebook, Kunhang grinning eerily behind the locker at his friend.

“So? You’re not gonna tell your best friend how this happened?”

“I was planning to but I knocked out straight after coming home and changing out of my wet clothes.”

“Wet clothes?” Kunhang gasped, clearly scandalized by Ten’s choice of words, “You guys barely started dating and you’re already on third base? You’re even crazier than I thought.” 

“Shut up! I said I’ll explain everything and I will, we just went late night swimming so calm down, I’ll tell you everything after class.”

“Wow I can’t wait to hear the details of your eloping-“

“Fuck you.”

“So.. Your new boyfriend.” Johnny’s father cleared his throat at the dinner table, slowly chewing on a piece of meat as he stared at his son. Johnny’s aura was bright and bubbly, he was texting Ten with his phone (un)subtly under the dinner table, his hand resting on his cheek like a lovestruck teenage girl. Johnny wasn’t listening to his father and continued to hum to himself, laughing at what Ten texted him.

“Johnny!”

“Huh?” Johnny looked up with a smile at his father, his eyes lidded and hazy. His father could barely hold back his throw up. Mr. Seo wasn’t judgmental, don’t get him wrong, he was happy his son was happier and more content these days. He didn’t care if his son liked boys or girls, he just wanted him happy. 

Even with his busy schedule he could tell how Johnny has gotten more content because of his new boyfriend. But Johnny gave off that new couple vibe and Mr. Seo hadn’t seen that vibe since Johnny’s brother moved out.

“Your new boyfriend.”

“Oh yeah! Ten!” Johnny sighed dreamily. Mr. Seo’s eye twitched, he felt his wife gently pat his thigh from the side to calm him down. He thought he would be okay with whoever Johnny ended up dating for a split second. But nothing would calm down his raging distaste for Ten. So he hoped to God that it wasn’t the same Ten.

“Do you .. Mean, Ten, as in Chittaphon Lee?” Mr. Seo said behind his gritted teeth, he felt an oncoming migraine appearing as he waited for his son’s answer. Oblivious to his dad’s reaction, Johnny grinned and said,

“Yup!”

Ten’s father was about to have a heart attack. He could hear the distant voices and complaints of Ten causing trouble again in the town haunting him. The Ten who would leave small bits of cannabis in his coffee when he wasn’t looking in the station, his co-workers thinking it’d be funny to see his reaction so they let Ten get away with it. The Ten who sprayed crude graffiti behind school buildings, cars, shops. The Ten who made the poor granny down Main Street have a slight stroke when Ten showed up with her granddaughter at her door right after he had trained her dog to pee in her tulip garden. 

_That_ Ten. His name wasn’t unforgettable to the town’s head police chief that had let the kid go countless times after countless misdemeanors. The kid had a number as a name for Christ’s sake! He was _so_ going to get his hands on Ten’s neck next time he sees him for doing yet, another thing to ruin Mr. Seo’s peaceful life. Date his _son_. 

“I forbid you to continue seeing Ten!”

“What do you mean your father is that lame old ass chief?” Ten exclaimed, sitting up from his bed in horror. No way was he dating the seed of the man ruining his fun. How would such a dickhead like the police chief have such an angelic child like _Johnny_? He could hear Johnny sigh from the other line, probably hugging his pillow as he talked to Ten,

“Yeah,” He drawled out, Ten could practically hear his pout, “He said I couldn’t hang around you anymore. He was all like, ‘_I forbid you to see him anymore,’_ then he suggested breaking up with you but no way in hell would I do that!”

“Good or else I’d sock your d-“

“Ten! No violence! I’ve already tried explaining to my dad you’ve grown from those things. At least I hope you did.. But I’d still choose to see you anyways, not like he can stop us at school.” Johnny explained as Ten fell back onto his bed, glaring at his blank ceiling. 

“Yeah, of course.”

Ten said quietly. It became awkward all of a sudden and Johnny went silent. The phone call continued with both of them just listening to the sounds of each other’s breathing until Johnny had fallen asleep. Prior to their slight argument, Johnny had been studying hard for his Chemistry quiz, probably something Ten should’ve been doing as well but decided to hear Johnny reciting to himself instead. His snores caused Ten smile to himself as he hung up. 

To say Ten was feeling insecure was a confusing thought. Ten had never felt insecure before, he had a tough shell protecting him and nothing would ever break through it. That’s what he thought before he ended up dating Johnny.

Johnny didn’t do anything wrong, he never does, but all of a sudden a wave of insecurity had hit Ten like a typhoon. He suddenly felt like he wasn’t enough for Johnny. After their phone call, discussing Johnny being banned from seeing Ten, the younger had started to realize how much he didn’t deserve Johnny.

He had slowly started skipping school again, his hideout was behind a red slide at the local park. Ten would usually be wearing one of Johnny’s hoodies when he was out and about, thinking long and hard to himself.

He had picked up smoking again but never dared to get Johnny’s hoodies smelling like that crap. He only smoked when he was stressed or overthinking. Kunhang had already given him shit about it, calling him an idiot but telling him to be safe because Johnny was asking about him and he hadn’t returned his calls in 3 days. He avoided him like the plague, too weak to properly speak to his boyfriend about it.

_Boyfriend_.. They hadn’t even officially discussed their relationship’s label either.. 

“So this is where you’ve been.” Johnny’s soft voice said from beside Ten, who was casually eating a cheeseburger behind his hideout. The latter jumped in his spot, accidentally hitting his head against the slide causing Johnny to chuckle. Ten rubbed his head with a pout, swallowing the last of his burger. Johnny sighed, shaking his head as he reached over to kiss Ten’s head. The younger, of course, sputtered with the same stupidly red face he sported around his boyfriend, still not used to Johnny’s affection.

“Are you not going to explain to me why you’ve been avoiding me for a few days and skipping again?” Johnny said calmly, his eyebrows furrowed in concern as he looked down at his boyfriend, bringing his knees close to his chest to listen intently to Ten. Ten just sighed, 

“Why do you have to be such a good _boy_— person?”

“Huh?” Johnny tilted his head, confused, almost like a puppy and Ten wanted to scratch his own eyes out.

“Like,” Ten was about to hit his head again to lean back but Johnny stopped him by placing his hand behind his head, “Look at what you’re doing right now.. You’re listening to me closely, you’re watching out for me like this, being such a perfect boyfriend and I’m just.. Goddamn Ten. Not being able to face his problems.” 

“Is this about my dad?” The elder boy asked carefully. He brought his hand down from Ten’s head, finding his way to lace his fingers through Ten’s hand instead, “You know I don’t care what he says about you. All that matters is I think you’re a good person.”

“But _why_?” Ten was frustrated now with his own feelings, “You know about all the dumb shit I’ve done, even to your own dad. I don’t get it. All I do is cause trouble and I’m causing you trouble by you choosing to date me like what’s up with that? You ignored me all year and like, suddenly you like me because I helped you once. I’ve liked you ever since I laid eyes on you at the convenience store and yeah it feels great to finally have you as a boyfriend but you’re so perfect I just don’t deserve yo-“

Ten’s rant was cut off by Johnny grabbing the sides of his face, the elder promptly kissing him. Ten had fallen on his back in surprise, Johnny had him pinned onto the ground as they kissed. His hands were still squishing Ten’s cheeks as he pulled away with a huff, pecking him one more time to be sure, 

“God you’re so fucking dumb but so hot. You taste like cheeseburgers.”

“That’s the fiwst time I evew heawd you cuwse,” Ten said, his lips were puckered like a duck’s as Johnny was still squishing his cheeks between his fingers. Johnny let go of Ten’s face, the elder licked his red lips, “That was pretty hot. And you actually called me your boyfriend.”

“Oh shut up,” Johnny said, lightly slapping Ten’s cheek, still not allowing Ten to sit back up so he had him pinned against the red polyurethane ground of the park, “You’re so full of crap you know? Like, you’re so wrong about me being perfect and how you don’t deserve me.”

“Excuse me for feeling insecure and like total shit thinking I’m a shitty boyfriend,” Ten retorted, crossing his arms and glaring up at his boyfriend. Johnny clicked his tongue, he was stuck with a stubborn boyfriend but he wasn’t complaining. He’d just have to reassure him,

“Well you’re wrong. You aren’t as bad as you think.” Johnny held his ground, making sure to look at the latter with assertiveness to make him know he was being completely serious, “I’ve liked you ever since I saw you slam the door open at the convenience store too you know. No, actually, way before that. When I first saw you in English class while you were drooling your ass off sleeping for God’s sake!”

“You look cute when you’re serious— _ow_, what was that for?”

“For not shutting up when I’m telling you what I like about you,” Johnny hissed, “I’ve always known about what a little troublemaker you were anyways. I thought you were too cool to even know about my existence or pay attention to the likes of me. Since you seemed to hate anything related to school I thought you despised me. That is, until you helped me when I was about to get socked in the face for not letting Chris borrow my math notes. 

I’m honestly surprised with myself with the fact that I managed to get you to like me. I try to be perfect for you so you understand I really, really fucking like you Ten. I always thought you were cool, supportive, soft and kind deep down even though you retaliated to everything around you. I never had the courage to talk to you until I flirted with you after the tournament. I like your ‘no fucks given’ attitude. The way you influence me to slack a little more. I like the way you blush every time I give you affection. Oh and that sound you make when I-“

“Okay, holy shit I get it,” Ten wheezed, he felt like his heart was about to burst from Johnny’s words, he felt himself heat up and he covered his face with his arm, “I don’t know what the fuck I did in my past life to deserve you. I’m super bad with words but fuck you for being the cutest and most supportive person in existence. Thank you, John.”

“Hey! You gave me a nickname. I take all that as a compliment and a thank you,” Johnny laughed, letting Ten sit up again so the scowling little guy could side hug him. Johnny barely fit around Ten’s arms from the side, let alone under the small slide but they chose to ignore it. They switched positions and soon Ten was engulfed into Johnny’s arms and the elder was just peppering kisses around Ten’s face. Just to make him feel a little more appreciated.

“You look cute in my sweater by the way.” Johnny muttered against Ten’s temple, Ten just groaned. He dug himself deeper into Johnny’s chest and Johnny could feel his glare, “Can we run away together?”

“Jesus christ Johnny what the hell.”

“Just a suggestion.” 

“Your dad probably has a chip on you, he’d hunt us down and gut me while you watch. You can’t date a dead person,” Ten said, flicking Johnny’s forehead, “But..”

“But..?” Johnny pressed on, raising his eyebrows, Ten just smirked up at him with that typical glint he had in his eye when he was brewing up trouble,

“We can run away on a short little roadtrip for summer break.”

“Have I ever told you you’re the best boyfriend I’ve ever had?”

“Johnny we’re each other’s first boyfriends.”

“Right.”

“... So you were already flirting with me when we talked for the first time, how scandalous John-“

“Fuck off.”

Johnny grabbed his hand gently, leaning onto his shoulder, almost making Ten fall back. The two could only burst out laughing, holding each other and ignoring the judgmental stares from parents with their children strolling around the park. Because two teenage boys were acting high out of their minds under the kiddie slide. They both just kept gazing at each other giggling and holding hands as if they were the only two in the world. 

As if they weren’t about to get scolded by their parents when they got back home for seeing each other, while Ten caused havoc, and the possibility of Johnny being grounded forever but he didn’t care. Ten, being Ten, would probably just ignore whatever his old man said to him and sneak up to Johnny’s room like some kind of poor excuse for Romeo. That’s what he told his boyfriend who just laughed and called him dumb but cute. 

Ten didn’t think love was so stupid anymore. Johnny was love. And he was _actually_ pretty smart. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi thanks for reading<3 leave a comment/kudos pls

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! leave a kudos or comment n tell me what u think! :)


End file.
